Sugar is a popular topic in discussions regarding diets and nutrition. An average American consumes about 22 teaspoons of sugar per day, which adds up to over 8,000 teaspoons per day. While our bodies need glucose to function properly, most Americans consume sugar, especially refined, by the pound. As such, sugar often goes unnoticed more than any other fat-building substance that creates hormonal and neurological chemistry imbalances, overall health detriment, and unwanted weight gain. A multitude of studies are pointing out that sugar plays a pivotal role in the development of many of the devastating illnesses, including heart disease, cancer, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, and others.

1. Choose REAL whole food throughout the day. Whole foods, such as vegetables and fruits, in its original form contain no processed sugar. For most people, consuming a variety of whole foods, preferably fresh, seasonal, and organic, create very few metabolic issues in digestion and assimilation of nutrients. With each meal and snack, consider including at least 2-3 varieties of whole foods. If you eat 3 meals and 2 snacks or 5 smaller meals throughout the day, your blood sugar levels will be normalized without the extreme drops, which will keep your hunger at bay and you will be less likely to go hungry and craving sugary snacks to pick you up.

2. “Eat breakfast like a King!” Eating a substantial breakfast is hugely important to start the day off on the right foot, which should include protein, healthy fat, and a source of phytonutrients. Breakfast smoothies are a great option to help you combine all of these components at once. Check out a few recipes HERE! A well balanced breakfast is essential to prevent sugar craving during the day, as well as it is important to avoid a typical carb-loaded starchy cereal full of processed sugars.

3. Incorporate protein and fat with each meal. Of course, that means the healthy variety of both! There are plenty of good choices of plant-based proteins, as well as healthy fats (mono- and polyunsaturated fats). The protein includes plant-based quinoa, lentils, tempeh, legumes, spirulina, nuts, and seeds, and lean animal choices. The unsaturated fats include avocados, olives, nuts (almonds, peanuts, macadamia nuts, hazelnuts, pecans, cashews), nut butters, sunflower, sesame, and pumpkin seeds, flaxseed, fatty fish (salmon, tuna, mackerel, herring, trout, sardines), olive oil with cold dishes and dressings, and coconut oil for cooking. Also, remember to include whole food complex carbohydrates that are not highly refined, such as a breads, pastas, pastries, bagels, and such, as they actually break down as sugars in the body.

4. Stay hydrated. Often a food craving can be misinterpreted for hunger. So before you reach for a snack or more food, drink a glass of water to ensure it’s hunger.

5. Get enough rest. Lack of sleepwill negative effect your energy levels, which also encourages an increased intake of consumption of sugar, particularly sugary caffeinated drinks and sweet snacks, to counteract the exhaustion experienced. Managing stress is another important component of having restful days and nights.

6. Move the body. Exercising in whatever form or fashion can help you increase the movement in the spine and body, increase blood flow in muscles and joints, reduce tension, and boost energy, all of which reduce the need for a sugar high as you can enjoy the serotonin increase following exercise. So get out, do some walking, swimming, dance, yoga, hiking, biking, or anything else that will get your heart pumping for a multitude of benefits. Even 20 minutes will make a significant difference, because the cravings last 10-20 minutes.

7. Learn to read labels. Ideally, you want to reduce the intake of foods that even have labels. However, in those cases when you do encounter labels, it is crucial to know what you are putting in your body. First label warning sign: the longer the list of ingredients, the more sugar will be included. Second, check how much sugar is included, which is measured in grams (1 teaspoon = ~4 grams), so choose products with the least amount of sugar. Avoid any sweeteners, which include the long list of: agave, corn syrup, corn sugar, high fructose corn syrup, sucrose, dextrose, honey, cane sugar, cane crystals, fruit juice concentrates, molasses, turbinado sugar and brown sugar. And never, ever substitute artificial sweeteners for sugar!

8. Clean out your stash. Making sure to remove all temptation from your house and office will be helpful in ensuring that you will not reach for the sugar snacks, which will create a distraction and you are more likely to reach for a healthier option or even a glass of water.

9. Consider a good quality multivitamin and mineral supplement. A lot of people are nutrient deficient and even more are not getting enough through their nutritional intake, which can often make their cravings worse. On the other hand, increased sugar intake will actually leach nutrients from your gut, creating nutrient deficiencies! So there are a few specific nutrients that can help fight sugar cravings while improving blood sugar control, which include magnesium, vitamin B3, and chromium.

10. Explore the possibility of deeper issues of sugar addiction. Sometimes the craving for sugar may be rooted in an emotional need that is not being met on some other level and is being substituted with emotional eating. Be open to addressing the sugar addiction through other avenues, such as journaling, counseling, and above all, by asking for help.

Aromatherapy is a form of alternative medicine with healing properties close to homeopathic remedies. The therapeutic benefits of aromatherapy vary from a little mental boost; to soothing sunburns, achy muscles; relieving some anxiety; as an antiseptic, and plethora of other applications.

Aromatherapy oils are made by extracting the natural oils from various parts of plants. Typically, steam distillation is used to produce the oils. Steam will run through the plant breaking down the cells that carry the oil. The oil and steam are then carried to a cooling chamber where they are separated resulting in the capture of the essential oil.

Here is a list of a few choice oils to have handy at home:

Lavender: Lavender oil has this yummy, fresh floral scent with a dash of sweetness and herby aroma. It smells amazing, as it is also the most versatile of all essential oils. Therapeutically, lavender oil has a calming effect for those suffering from anxiety. Medicinally, it can be used as an antiseptic and pain reliever to soothe minor burns, insect bites and stings, and muscle or joint pain. For a little pick-me-up, even one breath will make you feel blissful.

Peppermint: Peppermint oil has a very stimulating yet soothing aroma and is easily “Mother Nature’s Icy Hot” due to its main constituent, menthol. It is effective in arousing your mental sharpness, and it can be used to relieve congestion, headaches, migraines, digestive problems, and soothe achy muscles. To help with headaches, rub a tiny bit on the temples. To relieve muscle soreness, dilute it with a carrier oil, like grape seed oil, and rub it into whatever is sore.

Improve your physical, mental, and emotional well-being with a few breaths!

Eucalyptus: This oil has a very fresh and clean aroma that is sure to open up the airways. Eucalyptus oil is a natural antibacterial, antifungal, antimicrobial, antiviral, and anti-inflammatory. It is best used for respiratory problems like colds, coughs, asthma, and congestion, in addition to wounds, muscle pain, mental exhaustion, dental care, and skin care. Dropping a little of this in a hot bath when congested, it is a great natural way to clear the nasal passages.

Lemon: With its uplifting and fresh scent, lemon oil can help get rid of bad vibes and increase concentration and mental awareness by rubbing a few drops on the chest and throat. It is also an antiseptic and antifungal making it a wonderful fix for scrapes, cuts, and other open wounds.

Tea Tree. A widely popular form of alternative medicine, tea tree oil has astringent properties great for alleviating oily secretions of the skin (face and scalp), but it’s terpinen content soothes minor wounds without irritation.

When purchasing or using essential oils, it is important to ensure that they are 100% pure, therapeutic grade. They can be diluted with carrier oils (grapeseed, jojoba, or sweet almond oil) or water depending on what you are going to use the essential oil for. Before use, especially if you have any health concerns, consult with your health care practitioner.

With the colder months upon us and the holiday season just around the corner, this can be a wonderful time of the year. However, it is important to take good care of yourself – body, mind, and spirit! So here are some simple tips on helping you stay healthy and happy during a potentially stress-induced festivities.

Stay nourished. The holiday season can be a time of indulgences, like baked goods, breads, cheese, and alcohol. So in preparation for the big festivities, consider reducing stimulants, such as sugar, caffeine, alcohol, simple starches, and other heavy chemically-laden foods. Take a short reprieve by enjoying quality nutrient-dense foods and supplements. A good addition to the holiday regiment is magnesium-packed foods, such as lots of vegetables, legumes, and whole grains, to help maintain a healthy response to stress. If you have a need for an extra calming effect, especially if travelling, consider a magnesium supplement, such as Natural Calm at your local health food store. Using spices, such as garlic, ginger, and peppers, in cooking are a great way to boost the immune system and protect the body against colds in a shorter time span. It is also important to listen to your body and observe how you feel. Make sure to include enough omega-3s in your diet, such as fish, nuts, and seeds, which will help you reduce the amount of inflammation in the body and fight the winter “blues.”

Stay hydrated. This may be a bit redundant, but hydration is essential regardless of the season. It helps control appetite, reduces overindulgences, helps control the metabolism, moisturizes the air in the lungs as well as all cells of the body, and detoxifies, especially with a heavier alcohol intake.

Soothe with warm liquids. Warm tea can be great for a sore throat and cough, breaking a fever, calming nausea and upset stomach, and improving digestion. My go-to choices include mint, ginger, chamomile, green tea, etc. They are delicious with raw honey, lemon, and cinnamon sticks. Other great beverages are warm cider and hot cocoa with almond milk. In addition, this is the ultimate time for delicious soups, which can be prepare with a multitude of choices with lots of vegetables, legumes, grains, and lean proteins.

Take the time to breathe. I find myself reminding my patients of that continuously. Stress often makes us forget to breathe as well as forget how to breathe properly. Consider this breathingexercise: Sit still and tall somewhere comfortable with a neutral spine. Close the eyes and begin breathing through the nose. Inhale for a count of 2; hold the breath in for a count of 1. Exhale gently, counting out for 4; finish by holding the breath out for a count of 1.

Move your body.Exercise is a great way to reduce stress during hectic times, while staying healthy, maintaining weight, increasing energy levels, and improving the mood. During the winter months, you may have options for some fun outdoor activities and sports, such as hiking, ice skating, snowboarding, hockey, and sledding.

Go outside. As the days get shorter and darker and colder, it is important to spend some time outside in the sunshine to increase the vitamin D production. So get outside for 15 minutes a day 3-5 times per week to improve health and mood. Consider changing the light bulbs and in your house to “full spectrum” bulbsand lighting systems (this is great product by Nikken) to mimic natural light. The dietary supplementation of 2,000-4,000 IUs is available in foods, such as shiitake and button mushrooms, fish, cod liver oil, eggs, and cruciferous vegetables.

Explore natural health options to maximize the immune system function that will lead to less stress and better health during the colder months!

Get some sleep. With a busy holiday schedule, sleep is often sacrificed. Time management and discipline are essential in maintaining a consistent sleeping schedule. Aim to get 7-9 hours of sleep to normalize the sleeping pattern and get more energy. “Full spectrum” lighting systems, similar to the one by Nikken, is another great way to help maintain natural circadian rhythms, the cycle of sleeping and waking.

Take a hot bath. Soaking a hot bath once a week with Epsom salt, essential oils (try lavender, eucalyptus, and chamomile), and even baking soda is a great way to relax, calm the mind and body, as well as detoxify from toxins. If you take a bath before bed, it can improve sleep and help you feel energized the next day.

Chiropractic. Keeping the nervous system at optimal function by allowing the body to communicate to the brain appropriately is a vital aspect of spinal and overall health through a natural, effective, drug-free approach to health that promotes natural healing function and potential.. Chiropractic allows the body to release the accumulated physical, mental, and chemical stress and further allows the appropriate alignment and movement in the spine and its structures. Chiropractors work with people of all ages, including newborn babies, pregnant women and children. Talk to your local chiropractor today and start on the path to health to maximize your nervous and immune system function that leads to overall more energy and increased vitality!

Be generous. Giving to others should be a part of our everyday life, yet this tends to be the time that it is the most often remembered. Take the time out to help and nourish others by offering your generosity, not necessarily in terms of material things, but offer your time and volunteer for those who need the help in any shape or form. By nourishing and loving yourself, be grateful for your circumstance and offer your love to others. In addition, accept the help from others because they want to be of service to you as well. This is a season of giving and receiving, so practice both!

Stress is ever-present in our daily lives. How many times have you heard those around you, including yourself, say that they’re stressed out?! But what does that exactly mean?

Many times we equate stress with emotional or psychological stress, such as being worried about a job, career, money, health, family, marriage, children, friends, social situations, you name it. The reality is that our bodies do get stressed out for different reasons from the inside out. So let’s first figure out what types of stressors we encounter on the every day:

Cortisol, the “stress hormone”: a steroid hormone produced by the adrenal glands, which is usually released during times of stress (physical, chemical, and emotional) to maintain homeostasis in the body. With consistent amount of stress bombarding the body, the cortisol is continually released and has serious, negative effects on health, such as stress on the cardiovascular system, decreased immunity, higher risk for type II diabetes, osteoporosis, obesity, high blood pressure, and the loss of reproductive health.

Stress can be manageable. Finding some activities to decrease the amount of stress in life can help decrease the damage to the body, mind, and spirit, as well as add years to life and improving vitality. Figuring out a way to make everyday situations less stressful and more manageable is a good way to deal with stress.

Here is a quick and simple method of putting your body into a more relaxed and calm state of mind and body, which can be be practiced into a discipline over time for an improved mood and overall sense of calm:

Sit still and tall somewhere comfortable with a neutral spine

Close the eyes and begin breathing through the nose

Inhale for a count of 2…

Hold the breath in for a count of 2…

Exhale gently, counting out for 4…

Finish by holding the breath out for a count of 2

Keep your breathing even and smooth.

Repeat the cycle 10-15 times.

Return to normal breathing.

Other stress-lowering suggestions may be less intentional and obvious; yet at the same time, these tips will have significant benefits to health improvement and stress-lowering capabilities:

Grounding exercise– easy and free by connecting to the Earth

Stand or sit with bare skin exposed to grass, sand, dirt, or even concrete for 20-plus minutes each day

Practicing any of these stress-relieving techniques each day for even 5 minutes will allow you to raise your awareness and eventually reach the point where this process will become subconscious! You will be able put yourself into a more relaxed and calm state of mind and body, no matter where the stress is coming from!

With chiropractic, keeping the nervous system is the optimal mission and is facilitated though proper spinal health. Chiropractic allows the body to release the accumulated physical, mental, and chemical stress and further allows the appropriate alignment and movement in the spine and its structures. Talk to your local chiropractor today and start on the path to health!

More people are approaching health and wellness from a proactive stand-point by decreasing the burdens of modern lifestyle. Chiropractic care, in addition to high quality nutrition, exercise, and sleep, are instrumental in allowing the nervous system to function and perform at an optimal level.

Modern life stressors, shown below, can negatively impact the physiological functions in the body:

Sedentary lifestyle

Poor dietary choices

Poor posture

Chemical toxins

Stress – physical, mental, and emotional

Taking small steps to alter these lifestyle choices will aid in enhancing appropriate body functions. Incorporating chiropractic care restores proper nerve function to strengthen our health. Allowing the communication channels of the nervous system to flow uninhibited is paramount to healthy function.

Doctors of chiropractic adjust subluxations in the specific areas of joint and nerve dysfunction in order to free up the body’s communication channels, thereby offering a natural, effective, drug-free approach to health that promotes natural healing function and potential. Chiropractors work with people of all ages, including newborn babies, pregnant women and children.

Chiropractic goes beyond offering temporary relief from symptoms, it explores the cause of a problem and utilizes a hands-on approach to correcting the cause and enhancing the sense of vitality and well-being in order to get the most out of life each day by committing to a lifestyle of health.

Chiropractic honors the wisdom of the body’s innate ability for self-healing!

About 10 percent of reproductive age couples have trouble getting pregnant. Many women are waiting to have children later in life due to building their own careers or taking more time before tying the knot. After the age of 35, the decline in fertility starts to accelerate, which largely depends on the stressful lifestyle. These types of lifestyles cause a woman’s body to shut down as a means of survival.

These stressors manifest as:

Daily stress

Work issues

Busy social schedules

Poor nutrition and malnourishment

Poor food choices

Too few calories

Too many of the “wrong” type of calories

Nutrition

Eating a balanced and nutritious diet is important and it varies from one person to the next. Reducing deficiencies through healthy diets may be by increasing the amount of essential fatty acids in the diets, more leafy greens and less caffeine. Consulting with your holistic physician and/or nutritionist is important to help manage your dietary habits.

Stress Reduction

Reducing the amount of physical, chemical and emotional stress is an important part of the puzzle when it comes to fertility. Women have a tendency to be hard on themselves, often overlooking that it is crucial to nurture and care for the body, mind and spirit, in order to care for another. The process of fertility treatments can be scary, overwhelming and stressful, especially if the body is not responding the way we anticipate.

Yoga

Yoga offer a complimentary alternative care method for connecting the body and the spirit. Finding a calm, centering place allows one to slow down, breathe and be kind to ourselves. It may be difficult to force the body to always do things biologically, but working on how to react to certain life circumstances and upsetting processes and experiences. Being gentle while approaching a yoga practice is important, especially for women going through treatments or trying to get pregnant strenuous exercise is usually not the best.

Benefits of yoga:

Blood flowing to key areas in the body, such as the pelvis

Opens up the lungs for more oxygen and energy flow

Stretches the hips, waist, and back for better posture and stability

Building strength, stamina, flexibility and security

Deeply soothes and relaxes the whole system

Aligning the energy from inside and out

Create a community and relationship with others

Chiropractic

Chiropractic aids in correcting body’s imbalances, evident in misalignments and overcompensations in posture. The presence of these misalignments, vertebral subluxation, will interfere with the nervous system’s ability to communicate with the body through distorted brain messages.

The spinal compensations resulting from the subluxation may result in distorted pelvic positioning, causing the baby to get into an unfavorable position for birth, possibly breech. The nerve pressure and tension caused by the spinal compensations in the spine may lead to improper signals to be sent to various organs and tissues, such as the heart and lungs in the mid-thoracic region; kidney and liver in lower-thoracic and lumbar regions; and unfavorable uterus in the lower-lumbar and sacral region. This tension or pressure will interfere with the brain stem’s ability to coordinate the messages being sent to the body by the brain and with proper distribution of hormones, such as estrogen and progesterone.

Allowing the nervous system to meet its challenges with less overall stress will be able to improve the chances of conception naturally. Improving health and well-being from inside out through nutrition, yoga, and chiropractic will help you make strides and prepare the body for the New Life.

There has been a great emphasis on the importance of stress management. Lifestyle choices significantly influence how we cope with stress. Some indicators that stress level may be of concern may be evident in how much pleasure we get in daily life. So if you are not sleeping enough, eating enough, are overworked, and don’t play enough, dis-stress is a major component of your daily life and will influence your body’s response and may further create an opportune path to dis-ease.

Previously we’ve discussed global health indicators as well as adrenal and thyroid health. Another major organ system that is adversely affected by stress is the digestive system. Real or perceived chronic stressors from lifestyle or environment exposure over an extended time period tend to alter the homeostasis of the body and result in an overall adaptive process.

The digestive system is comprised of a fine physical and biochemical network that is responsible for gastric secretion, gut motility, mucosal permeability and barrier function, visceral sensitivity and mucosal blood flow, which is sensitive to stress-induced hormones, ischemia (loss of blood flow), and pH changes. The gut is the enteric nervous system, a significant portion of the autonomic system, and considered to be the “second brain.”

The biochemical cascade that occurs at a time of stress immediately influences digestive functions via corticotrophin releasing factors (CRFs) that affect:

Modulation of inflammation

Increase gut permeability

Increased visceral hypersensitivity

Increased perception of pain

Modulation of gut motility

Changes in composition of microbiota due to neurotransmitter and inflammatory cytokine levels

It is becoming more and more apparent that reducing stress is a vital component to physical, chemical, and emotional health and wellness, with the maintenance of a healthy weight, normalized blood sugar, fatigue, increased immunity, and improved sleep patterns. The ability to minimize stress on a regular basis will ensure well-being and longevity for a lifetime.

In continuing with a discussion about stress, I want to address the profound effect stress has on the adrenal glands, as they control the body’s reaction to stress and trauma.

The adrenals are two walnut-shaped glands that are situated on top of the kidneys. They secrete hormones – cortisol, epinephrine and norepinephrine – that regulate the stress response, and are closely related to thyroid health. It is important to address that healthy adrenal glands contribute to proper thyroid function as well.

Stresses that affect adrenal health and constantly release stress hormones, include many of the emotional and physiological challenges of modern life:

Impossibly full schedules

Driving in traffic

Financial problems

Marriage problems

Losing a job

Blood sugar swings

Gut dysfunction

Food intolerances, esp. gluten

Chronic inflammation

Autoimmune problems

Environmental toxins

Chronic infections

The symptoms of adrenal stress are diverse and non-specific as they affect multiple systems in the body:

Fatigue

Headaches

Decreased immunity

Difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep and waking up

Mood swings

Sugar and caffeine cravings

Irritability or lightheadedness between meals

Eating to relieve fatigue

Dizziness when moving from sitting or lying to standing

Gastric ulcers

Adrenal stress disrupts the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which is a complex neural network between the hypothalamus, the pituitary and the adrenal glands that regulates physiological functions, such as temperature, digestion, immune system, mood, sexuality and energy usage.

Adrenal stress further weakens immune barriers – GI tract, lungs, and the blood-brain barrier – in the body, by allowing foreign substances to enter the bloodstream and brain, weakening the immune system, and promoting inappropriate immune system regulation.

Inappropriate stress response will affect the hormonal balance in the adrenals due to chronic stress exposure, with prolonged cortisol elevations and excess estrogen in the blood, since the liver has a decreased ability to filter them.